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CST time converter

Convert a US Central time to your local time and a few common zones. The page shows CST or CDT.

US Central Time here is America/Chicago. CST is Central Standard Time (UTC-6). CDT is Central Daylight Time (UTC-5). CST can also mean China Standard Time (UTC+8), which is a separate choice below.

Reading the current Central offset.

At that moment, US Central is Central Standard Time (CST, UTC-6).

  • US Central

    12:00 PM (12:00)

    Thu, Jan 15, 2026. GMT-6. CST (UTC-6). America/Chicago. CST is UTC-6. CDT is UTC-5.

  • US Eastern

    1:00 PM (13:00)

    Thu, Jan 15, 2026. GMT-5. America/New_York.

  • US Pacific

    10:00 AM (10:00)

    Thu, Jan 15, 2026. GMT-8. America/Los_Angeles.

  • UTC

    6:00 PM (18:00)

    Thu, Jan 15, 2026. GMT+0. Offset zero.

  • London

    6:00 PM (18:00)

    Thu, Jan 15, 2026. GMT+0. Europe/London. GMT in winter, BST (UTC+1) in summer.

  • India (IST)

    11:30 PM (23:30)

    Thu, Jan 15, 2026. GMT+5:30. Asia/Kolkata, India Standard Time, UTC+5:30.

  • Singapore (SGT)

    2:00 AM (02:00)

    Fri, Jan 16, 2026. GMT+8. Asia/Singapore, UTC+8.

  • China Standard Time

    2:00 AM (02:00)

    Fri, Jan 16, 2026. GMT+8. Asia/Shanghai, UTC+8. Also abbreviated CST.

CST and CDT

US Central Time uses the IANA zone America/Chicago. When the offset is UTC-6, the name is Central Standard Time (CST). When the offset is UTC-5, the name is Central Daylight Time (CDT). The page reads the offset from your browser, so the label follows daylight saving.

On 15 January 2026 at 12:00 in Chicago, US Central is CST (UTC-6). That moment is 18:00 UTC, 13:00 in New York, 10:00 in Los Angeles, and 18:00 in London (GMT+0).

On 15 July 2026 at 12:00 in Chicago, US Central is CDT (UTC-5). London at that moment is GMT+1.

The offset label uses GMT, the same form as the world clock. GMT-6 and UTC-6 are the same six-hour offset.

China Standard Time

CST can also mean China Standard Time, which is UTC+8. That zone is Asia/Shanghai, not America/Chicago. On 15 January 2026, the Chicago noon above is 02:00 on Fri, Jan 16, 2026 in Shanghai (GMT+8). On 15 July 2026 it is GMT+8. India Standard Time is Asia/Kolkata (GMT+5:30 at the January moment and GMT+5:30 at the July moment). Singapore is Asia/Singapore (GMT+8 at the January moment).

Other Clockbeam time tools

The world clock shows the current time in cities you add. The meeting planner finds a working-hour overlap. The guides World clock and time zone basics and Plan a meeting across time zones explain offsets and shared meeting minutes.

How to use it

  1. Read the line that says whether US Central is currently CST (UTC-6) or CDT (UTC-5).
  2. Enter a date and a time, then choose the zone that time belongs to. US Central is America/Chicago.
  3. The list shows that moment in US Central, on this device, and in Eastern, Pacific, UTC, London, India, Singapore, and China.

Limits to know

  • Offsets come from the time zone data in this browser, the same data the world clock uses.
  • A time that falls in a daylight-saving gap does not exist. A repeated hour can be the earlier or the later one.
  • CST is also the abbreviation for China Standard Time (UTC+8). That zone is Asia/Shanghai, on its own row.

Questions

Why does US Central say CST on some dates and CDT on others?

US Central Time follows America/Chicago. The standard offset is UTC-6, labeled CST (Central Standard Time). The daylight offset is UTC-5, labeled CDT (Central Daylight Time). The label matches the offset at the moment you are looking at.

Does CST mean China Standard Time on this page?

It can. China Standard Time is UTC+8. This page lists it as Asia/Shanghai, separate from US Central Time (America/Chicago).

Which time zone is the local row?

The local row uses the time zone set on this device. The named rows use America/Chicago, America/New_York, America/Los_Angeles, UTC, Europe/London, Asia/Kolkata, Asia/Singapore, and Asia/Shanghai.

Guides

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